Mosley: Briatore affair far from over

Former FIA president Max Mosley has said that, despite Flavio Briatore’s lifetime ban being overturned, the affair is far from over.

In a French court on Tuesday, the judge found that Briatore’s and Symonds’s bans were past the limits of the FIA’s power, and that the bans must be overturned. The FIA’s legal team are currently considering an appeal.

It would be unimaginable to see the crimes of crash-gate go unpunished, and Mosley agrees, saying that the FIA could even change the rules, so as to be able to ban non-licence holders.

In an interview with the Telegraph, he said:

“The suggestion that we can’t penalise anyone who doesn’t have a licence is very serious because, for example, we wouldn’t be able to ban those people who blacked up their faces and upset Lewis Hamilton (Barcelona in 2008) from coming to a race.”

“But in any case the FIA can easily change its rules so that it takes account of what the court said. They said we weren’t allowed to ban non-licence holders. Well obviously you can bring in a rule which does allow you to, if you wish.”

“One thing’s for sure, it’s very far from over.”

The fact that Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds do not have to hold licences to be in F1 is the reason they cannot be banned, since there is no legal authority to remove them from the sport. However, the FIA still have the power to refuse superlicences to drivers who use Briatore as their manager. Also, they may not put a team on the entry list if they hire him. It remains to be seen whether they will use this power or not.

One other problem the FIA has is Bernie Ecclestone, who said that he had no problem with Briatore returning to the F1 paddock. Both he and Briatore agree that Flavio would be working in driver managment, rather than with a team. However, it is very doubtful that the FIA would allow this to happen.

Whatever happens next, this is definitely the first big test of Jean Todt’s role of FIA president. If he can find a way of keeping Briatore out of F1, then he can prove that he is the man for the job.